Collating apparatus and method



July 6, 1965 K. G. ULLBERG COLLATING APPARATUS AND METHOD 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 2'7, 1964 i G R a M m m N m M v N n ma a. Q G N 1 ON 2 3 8 3 M \M\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\%E K W fi 2 N 3 a .m u nv w.

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July 6, 1965 K. G. ULLBERG 3,193,278

COLLATING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed March 27, 1964 4 Sheet-Sheet 2 INV NTOR KARL Go'r: LLBERG AT'rYS.

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COLLATING' APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed March 27, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN'T OR. KARL Gore ULLBERG- July 6, 1965 K. G. ULLBERG COLLATING APPARATUS AND METHOD 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 27, 1964 Arrvs.

United States Patent M 3,193,278 CGLLATING APPARATUS AND METHOD Karl Gtite Uilherg, Sundbyberg, Sweden, assignor to Lindaco Aktieholag, Stockholm, Sweden Filed Mar. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 355,227 lairns priority, application Sweden May 24, 1965) 11 Claims. or. 270 ss) This invention relates in general to a method and apparatus for collating a set of sheets, and more particularly to a method for rapidly collating a set of sheets by manual operation, and apparatus used in carrying out this method.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending patent application Serial No. 112,306, filed May 24, 1961, entitled Sheet Collator, now abandoned.

The term collating as used herein, is the act of gathering or collecting a set of sheets, such as the pages of a book, magazine, letter or manuscript. Heretofore, ma chines for collating pages of books, magazines and the like, have employed complicated and expensive constructions involving power driven belts or similar sheet transferring mechanisms for moving and assembling the relatively great number of pages involved. Because such collating machines typically require skilled operators, and are expensive both as to original installation and maintenance due to the large number of power operated and continuously running parts and components, such machines are generally limited to production line applications.

In the field or" office-type machines for collating, attempts to use the typical power driven production type collating machines have encountered problems, particularly where such machines are used by oiiice Workers not skilled in their operation. Loading the machines properly with stacks of sheets is time consuming and difiicult with the usual production type machines. Jamming of the machines requires the attention of a skilled service man and results in non-productive down time. Incomplete sets, or double feed of one or more pages, is a continuing and vexing problem, due to partial failure of the feed mechanism, or because of static electricity, tackiness of the paper, or where the paper is particularly slick. Where failure of feed or double feed goes unnoticed while the collating machine is operating to be discovered later, correcting the faulty sets requires time-consuming, inefiicient, stuiiing or pulling double pages. In short, these and other problems with production type collating machines have limited their use to special applications where high initial and maintenance costs, and the requirement for a skilled operator, can be justified. Ofiice-type collating machines in general use have, consequently, typically been no more than sorting devices which are diificult to use and afford slow sheet collating speeds.

Accordingly, it is to a method and apparatus for collating which overcomes the foregoing problems that the present invention is addressed. The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for collating whereby a set of sheets may be rapidly gathered by manual operation. This result is achieved by following a new sequence of collating opera tions. The common practice in production type collating machines is to feed sheets continuously from a plurality of stacks into continuously operated gathering mecha- 3,i93,27$ Patented July 6, 19%? nisms which move the sheets in sequential order to a regis tering mechanism. It is now proposed to combine the registering and gathering operations and to perform such operations simultaneously by hand. The full sequence of operations is carried out manually with the assistance of a simple collating mechanism, which requires no specialized skills to be operated in an efiicient manner.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for collating which may be quickly and easily loaded.

A further object is to provide an apparatus for collating in which the individual stacks of sheets from which a set is gathered are visible to the operator during the collating operations so that failure of the apparatus to transfer a full set of sheets may be observed by the operator at the time such failure occurs, so that the sets may be completed.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for collating which is manually operated and with which the sequence of operations may be interrupted at any point upon an observed failure of the feed mechanisms to transfer a complete set. A related object is to provide an apparatus for collating which after such interruption at a point in the collating operation may be recycled to automatically complete sets of sheets.

A further object of the invention is to provide a collator in which the collating of sheets from a plurality of bins may be accomplished in a rapid manner and with access to the bins and control by the operator of the sheet feeding at all times, the collator being such that it is possible for the operator to carry out the collation in a rapid succession, that is, after one collating operation has been finished, the operator will be immediately ready for the next collating operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a collating machine which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a collator constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of a collator indicated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the collator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line 4- 3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial section similar to FIG. 4 but indicating the manner in which the bins may be extended for accommodating sheets of a larger size;

FIG. 7 is a partial section similar to PEG. 4 indicating the manner in which the ejector rod may be displaced for loading each of the bins;

FIG. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-8 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic indication showing the basic bin construction.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 1 to 8, the invention has been illustrated as embodied in a collator generally designated 10 which comprises a rectangular box or housing portion designated 12 for receiving a plurality of stacks of sheets which will be collated into sets. In the embodiment illustrated, the housing 12 is supported on four detachable legs 14 which at their upper ends are secured by means of bolt 16 to the housing 12. The housing 12 includes a bottom wall 18, side walls 20 and 22, and end walls 24 and 26. The side Walls 20 and 22 are notched at 28 (FIGS. 1, 4, 6 and 7) to demarcate separate collating bins designated A to L inclusive.

To support the stack of sheets in the bins, each bin A to L is partly defined by removable angle members generally designated 39 which extend between side walls 20 and 22 and are located to align at their lower ends in the notches 28. Each angle member 30 includes an oblique wall portion 30a for supporting the backs of a stack of sheets and a bottom wall portion 30b for supporting the bottom edges of such sheets. Each bottom wall portion 36b is slotted to receive an ejector arm member or rod 32 of an ejector mechanism.

In carrying out the method of the invention, the top sheets of all stacks in the bins are raised simultaneously to a position above the tops of the bins, as shown in FIG. 1, by a manually operated ejector mechanism. This ejector mechanism, as best seen in FIG. 4, comprises a plate member 34 which is pivotally supported below the bins A to L at respective ends on parallel links 36 and 38 which, in turn, are pivotally mounted at their lower ends on respective pivot pins 40 and 42 held in respective side walls 20 and 22. In the drawings, only two parallel links, one forward one 36 and one rear one 38, are indicated, but, of course, the plate 34 is supported at its opposite side by similar links. The plate 34 and its. associated parallel supporting links 36 and 38 are biased to an up-.

ward position, as indicated in FIG. 4, by a coil spring 44 which is connected to the plate at its one end and at its opposite end to a bolt 46 secured to end wall 24.

The ejector mechanism as herein shown in operated by depressing and then releasing a foot pedal 45. For this purpose the foot pedal is connected by a wire 47 to the ejector plate member 34. When thepedal is depressed, the plate member swings longitudinally and down upon pivotal movement of its supporting links 36 and 38 against the biasing action of the return spring 44. In this manner, all of the ejector rods 32 move downwardly from the solid line position to the dotted line position indicated on the left-hand portion of FIG. 4 permitting a rubber sheet engaging element or gripper 48 carried at the upper end of each ejector rod 32 to ride down wardly over the surface of the uppermost sheet of each stack in the bins A to L. When the pedal is' released, the return spring 44 shifts the plate34 forward and up, to raise all the ejector rods 32 simultaneously and thereby cause the sheet engaging elements 48 on the rods to engage the surface of the uppermost sheets to raise them from all the bins.

* Still referring to FIG. 4 for further details of the ejector operating means, the wire 47 is connected at its upper end to the plate 34 and extends through a guide element 52 mounted on the housing bottom wall 18 and through a guide element 54 of the pedal assembly generally designated 56 (FIG. 1). With this arrangement, all the'ejector rods 32 are lowered simultaneously to a cocked position by means of the pedal. The ejector mechanism is actuated by the return spring 44 when the operator releases the pedal. All of the bins are visible to an operator sitting or standing next to the apparatus with his foot on the pedal, and any faulty operation of the ejector rods 32 at this stage will be immediately noticed. For example, when the ejector rods 32 move down, if the end of one rod should catch the surface of the sheet over which it is riding to crumple or skew that sheet, before the pedal is released the operator may reach into that bin and straighten the sheet or remove it. One of the important features of the apparatus of this invention is that the common direction.

operator can interrupt the operation at this and other stages to correct for faulty feed.

After the pedal 45 is released, the ejector rods 32 are raised by the action of the spring 44 to raise all the top sheets from the stacks in the bins. These sheets comprise a set to be gathered and registered. At this stage in the operation, the sheets to be gathered temporarily remain stationary with their ends projecting above the openings or exits in the bins and are visible to the operator. Should the ejector mechanism fail to raise all sheets of a set, by

means of this invention the preceding ejector step can be recycled. By depressing the pedal 45, the operator will lower the rods and thereby return all the raised sheets into the bins and also will return the ejector rod 32 which failed to raise a sheet the first cycle. When the pedal 45 is again released, all sheets will be raised and it has been found that in most cases the ejector rod 32 which failed on its first cycle will operate properly upon the recycle. In cases where it fails again, theoperator can inspect the stack of sheets in the problem bin to eliminate the cause of the feed failure, perhaps due to a condition where several sheets are stuck together preventing proper feeding. With the sheets raised out of each of the associated bins A to L, they will be positioned to extend above means defining a gathering trackway, which in this case extends horizontally across the bin openings. In keeping with the invention, the gathering trackway is provided by antifriction means, such as rollers 76 (see FIG. 5) which are carried adjacent the bin openings for feeding away sheets which have been projected out of the bin. The rollers 76 areadvantageously carried in plastic fitments or elements 78 which are inserted into the open ends of side supporting members 62 which supporting members are made tubular for this purpose. Each fitting element includes an opening for rotatably supporting shaft extensions 80 of the rollers 76. The fitments 7S and the rollers 76 with the shaft extensions 80 are advantageously made of a durable, substantially rigid plastic material.

To facilitate gathering the sheets, the supporting elements 62 and the L-shaped member 30 are such that the sheets will be. directed to overlie the associated rollers 76' at the ends of the respective bins and all be oriented in a It can be seen that the rollers 76 carried by each of the supporting members 62 of the respective bins define a trackway unobstructed at the exterior of the bins for the feeding of the sheet material or the collecting of the same by advancing each sheet in succession over the trackway. The trackway level is defined in accordance with the extension of the element 62 by regulating the supporting plate 64.

Further in accordance with the method of this invention, with all sheets of a set visibly projecting into the gathering trackway, the sheets are gathered and registered in a single manual operation. This step is carried by moving an object, a block or the palm of ones hand, first downwardly over the sheet which is fed out of the first bin in a row (bin L) and then to advance the sheet in the direction of bin A by moving it over the associated rollers 76. As the operator moves his palm first over the sheet from bin L and then along the trackway and over the sheet from bin I, each sheet in succession is picked up 111 this manner in register with the preceding sheet by frictional engagement of each overlaying sheet in succession and by substantially frictionless feeding over the rollers 76.

Returning now to FIGURE 1 for a more detailed description of the apparatus, one of the important features of the invention is the ease and simplicity of loading the apparatus. Each of the bins A to L is loaded with a stack of sheet material which is to'be collated, that is, for example, single sheets of each stack are to be gathered together in a single collation or collection of sheets. Loading is accomplished by deflecting the rod members 32 outwardly, as indicated in FIG 7, and placing the stack of sheets on an associated angle member 30. This is achieved in a particularly expedient manner with the present construction by a plate i7 connecting all the ejector rods 32 of bins A to L for motion together to a forward loading position upon manual actuation of the rod 32 in the first bin L. Thus, when the rod 32 in the first bin L is manually pivoted forward against a block 77' carried by the plate 77, the entire plate moves to pivot all the rods and thereby open all the bins to receive stacks of sheets. Provision is also made to hold the first rod 32 in its forward loading position thereby to hold all the rods 32 in their loading position, herein shown as an L- shaped slot 79 adapted to catch the first rod 32; the first rod 32 is readily removed from the slot '79 after the bins have been loaded so that the plate 7'7 and all the rods will be returned into operating position with the rods 32 in contact with the stacks of sheets in the bins. After all of the sheets are placed in the bin in this manner, the length of each bin is set in accordance with the lengdi of the sheet by adjusting the position of the supporting member 64. The length of the bin is chosen so that when the ejector mechanism is operated, a sheet will be projected beyond the respective roller '76 of its associated bin. it is preferable that the sheet be directed at least to an extent at which it will bend over the associated roller slightly.

To this end, the bins A to L are defined by oblique supporting elements or bin extension elements 62 (see FIGS. 1, 4, 6 and 7) which extend upwardly parallel to the oblique portion 3% of the L-shaped member 35. The supporting elements 62, along with the oblique portion 360, support the base of the stack of sheet material and, in addition, the supporting elements define the size or length of each of the bins A to L. Each of the elements 62 is mounted obliquely on an angle member or supporting element se. it should be appreciated that there are two sets of supporting elements 62, one set on each side of the housing 10, and there is a corresponding longitudinally extending supporting element 4 for each set. The supporting element 64- on each side of the housing is held at a selected level by adjustment means which comprises a knob 66 which may be tightened on a bolt 68 which is secured to supporting element 64 and extends through an oblique slot '76 in a respecive end of each side wall 29 and 22 (FIGS. 4 and 8) of the housing iii. A series of openings 72 is defined along the height of each end of the associated side walls 2% or 22 and extends parallel to the respective slots 7%. The openings 72 form a receptacle for a detent 74 which is defined by a crimp or projection in the supporting member 64 to provide positioning points for the supporting plate 64.

As indicated in FIG. 4, the supporting plate 64- is supported in its lowermost position. The plate may be shifted from this position upwardly, as indicated in FIG. 6, to the dotted line position, for example, by loosening the knob 65 and shifting each associated end of the member 6, upwardly to align the detent 74 in a selected opening '72. The effect of shifting the supporting member 64 upwardly or downwardly is to change the length of the associated bins A to L by causing the supporting element 62 to move from the solid line position to the dotted line position, or vice versa, as indicated in P16. 6.

When very thin sheets are fed, there may be some tendency for the sheet to be bent directly around the roller 76 at the end of its associated bin and the sheet might enter into the next adjacent bin, rather than to feed along the trackway defined by all of the rollers 76. in order to prevent this from happening, the invention includes the provision of lightweight spring steel guide members 82 which normally extend outwardly as a continuation of the supporting member 52. The guide members 32 are such that they may be inserted into the supporting member 62 along with the fitment '78 and wedged into position in this manner. When a sheet of paper is directed up wardly out of the bin, it is directed over an associated guide member 82 and may easily cause deflection of such member downwardly. The guide member 32 is of a 6 length so that it will bridge the gap between associated bins and prevent the paper from being deflected downwardly in the next adjacent bin.

After the sheets are loaded in the bins in this manner and the length of the bins adjusted, the operator may eject all of the sheets from the bin simultaneously by depressing the pedal 45 and thereafter releasing the pedal. When this is done, the uppermost sheet in each bin will be moved out of the associated pin and upwardly over the associated rollers '76 which define the trackway. The sheets are then collected by moving an object along the gathering trackway to pick up the sheets in succession.

Because the entire trackway defined by the rollers 76 is unobstructed, the operator may, for example, remove just the sheets which are fed out of bins F, G, H, I, I, K and L and leave the sheets from bins A, B, C and D for collation after the others have been collected. At all times the collation or collection is within the control of the operator, and, for example, some of the sheets which have been projected out of the bins, for example bins E and F, may be removed, if desired and excluded from collection. If, for example, the sheets are not being fed out of the bins properly, the operator may make easy and simple adjustment even during the collation.

in FIG. 9, a further form of collating apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention, is indicated somewhat schematically. The illustrated apparatus comprises a plurality of supports or walls 92 making an angle to the vertical and defining a series of bins 91. Each bin has a bottom 19 and is shaped so as to hold a stack 95 of sheets, for instance printed or stenciled leaves for a book. Each bin contains an ejector arm or member 93, having a rubber tip 94, supported by its own weight upon the outermost sheet of the stack. The lower end of each ejector arm is rotatably mounted on a horizontal pivot arranged on a horizontally situated liftin rod 95. This lifting rod is supported by two parallel links 9% and which are pivoted upon horizontal axles 97 and 114. A lever 9 is pivoted on the horizontal axle 97 and is rigidly connected to link 98. A coil spring llllti has one end secured to the frame of the apparatus and the other end secured to lever 99 so as to tend to hold the feed device in the position shown on the drawing. A wire 112 has one end secured to the lever 9 and the other end secured to a pedal H3. Lever 99 also has a handle ll]. for manual operation.

Anti-friction means, such as elongated rollers 116, are mounted on a horizontal axle 129 on the upper border of each wall 92, so as to be able to rotate with low friction. Guide members 117 are arranged above each bin. The guide member 117 in this form of the invention, consists of a slender rod or wire, having one end rotatably secured to one axle and the other end resting upon the adjacent axle 123. The guide members have such a low weight that their free ends can be lifted by the upper edges of the sheets when partially ejected from the bins.

The illustrated apparatus is operated in the following manner: the operator loads the desired number of stacks of sheets in the bins, and with the bins loaded, the appa ratus is ready for collating. The operator, as the first step of the method of this invention, ejects a shift out of each of the bins so that it overlies the roller 116 associated with each bin and extends along the gathering trackway, by depressing the pedal 113 and then releasing it. When the pedal is released, the coil spring it actuates the ejector arms 93, resulting in the outermost sheet of each stack being partially ejected from the bin. With the form of the apparatus shown in PKG. 9, the free ends of the guide members 117 are lifted a little distance by the upper edges of the sheets, and deflect the sheets somewhat in the left-hand direction of the drawing. With the form of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the upper sheet from each stack projects above the assocated 7 roller and rests against the guide members or upright spring fingers 82.

As the next step in the method, the operator now uses a pad 118 for registering and gathering the sheets. The pad for this purpose preferably has surface of rubber or a similar material exerting a high friction against the sheets. In carrying out this step, the operator moves the pad in the direction of the arrow 121 in FIG. 9 of the drawing, pressing the pad downward so that it rolls upon the track formed by the rollers 116. As the pad is moved, it frictionally engages the upper portion of the first sheet, bends the sheet over the roller and pulls the sheet out of the bin. The first sheet, when moving along with the pad, moves into overlying register with the upper portion of the second sheet and drags it out of its bin, and so on until all the sheets have been gathered from all the bins and the entire set of sheets has been assembled in a single movement. The operator now grasps the assembled set of sheets and puts it aside or moves them off the trackway and into a jogging machine (not shown), and is then ready for the next collating operation.

The pad described can be dispensed with if the operator uses his hand in place of the pad for assembling the sheets, but the work is facilitated by the use of the pad. Instead of the manual operation of the pad, it may be arranged for an automatic operation. It may thus be arranged on a rail on an endless belt and propelled by a motor. The operation of the feeding device and the pad may be synchronized, so that the movement of the pad is started automatically when the feeding device has ejected a set of sheets to project above the rollers 116.

It shouldbe appreciated that the rollers 116 or other anti-friction means should be such that they exert less of a frictional drag on the sheets which will become engaged directly thereon than will exist between the sheet overlying the anti-friction means and the preceding sheet or the pad 118 which drags the initial sheet out of the bin.

Also, the manual operation of the pad can be linked with the operation, of the feeding device. For instance, a wire may have one end fastened to the extreme lefthand roller 116 on the drawing, and its other end secured to link 99. When the operator moves the pad over this extreme roller 116, the wire is wound up, imparting a downward stroke to the ejector members 93. When the pad releases said extreme roller 116, coil spring 110 imparts an upward movement to the ejector members 93 as previously described, thus ejecting another set of sheets. 1

The track formed by the rollers 116 is shown in the illustrated embodiment to be horizontal, but may have some inclination to the horizontal, preferably not more than 30. With this substantially horizontal arrangement of the track, the supports or walls 92 should preferably have an inclination of -45 to the vertical. However, in an extreme case the bins may be arranged superpositioned above each other, so that the track formed by the rollers 116 is vertical or nearly vertical. In this case it is preferred to arrange the supports or walls 2 with an inclination of 45 or somewhat more to the vertical.

The collator 10 also includes a spacing rod 84 having ends which extend at right angles into respective ends of the housing 12. The spacing rod 84 may be moved inwardly for locating the housing in respect to a stationary wall. The spacer rod 84 is anchored in its adjusted position by tightening an adjusting knob 86 (FIGS. 6

and 7).

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the inventive principles, it will be understood that 'the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sheet collator, the combination comprising means including a plurality of spaced, substantially parallel inclined walls defining a succession of bins each bin' being located between adjacent ones of said walls for supporting a stack of sheet material on each of said inclined walls, said walls having upper ends terminating in substantially a common plane and defining openings for each of said bins, anti-friction means mounted adjacent said bin openings spaced beyond the edges of stacks of sheet materials supported in the respective bins and defining a substantially horizontal sheet gathering trackway, said anti-friction means extending transversely of said trackway and said trackway beingunobstructed to the projection of substantial upper portions of sheets from said bins above the upper surfaces of said anti-friction means extending along planes projected from said bins whereby any sheets projected from said bins beyond said trackway remain substantially stationary until manually removed from said bins, and ejector means in said bins for projecting a sheet from each of said bins so that a substantial upper portion of each sheet extends above its associated anti-friction means whereby to cause each sheet, as it is projected, to be positioned for movement out of its bin over said anti-friction means and into frictional engagement with the following sheet in succession.

2. In a sheet collator, the combination comprising means including a plurality of spaced, substantially parallel inclined walls defining a successionof bins, each bin being located between adjacent ones of said walls for supporting a stack of sheet material on each of said inclined walls, said walls having upper ends terminating in substantially a common plane and defining openings for each of said bins, anti-friction rollers mounted adjacent said bin openings spaced beyond the edges of stacks of sheet materials supported in the respective bins and defining a substantially horizontal sheet gathering trackway, said anti-friction rollers extending transversely of said trackway and said trackway being unobstructed to the projection of substantial upper portions of sheets from said bins above the upper surfaces of said antifriction rollers extending along planes projected from said bins, ejector means in said bins including an ejector I arm carried adjacent each of said walls and movable to frictionally engage an uppermost sheet of each stack, and actuating means connecting all of said ejector arms for simultaneously projecting substantial upper portions of said sheets above the upper peripheries of said rollers whereby to cause each sheet, as it is projected, to be positioned for movement out of its bin and into frictional engagement with the next sheet in succession.

3. A method of collating sheets from stacks arranged in succession in a plurality of bins, the ends of the bins having anti-friction means arranged adjacent the bin ends defining a gathering trackway therealong, comprising ejecting a sheet out of each of the bins so that a substantial upper portion of each sheet projects above and overlies the associated anti-friction means, and gathering the sheets by moving an object along the trackway into frictional engagement with a first sheet projecting from one bin for moving it out of said bin and along the trackway into frictional engagement with the next sheet in succession, and continuing the movement of said object along said trackway to move said first sheet along the trackway so as to drag each sheet in succession out of its associated bin and along the trackway by frictional engagement with the preceding sheet so as to gather all the sheets out of all the him.

4. A method of collecting or removing sheets'from a plurality of bins arranged in side by side relationship with their ends disposed in a common plane with rollers arranged on the end-s of the bins defining a trackway therealong, comprising ejecting a sheet out of the bins through the plane of the openings'so that a substantial upper portion of the sheet extends above the upper peripheries of the rollers and deflecting each sheet in a common direction over the rollers, and thereafter moving an object over the bins and applying pressure downwardly against the rollers to frictionally engage each sheet in succession and move them out of said bins one at a time in succession as the object is moved over the respective rollers adjacent said bins.

5, A collator comprising a plurality of rollers arranged in substantially a common plane and defining on one common side a roller trackway unobstructed to the projec- .tion of substantial upper portions of sheets from said bins above the upper peripheries of said rollers extending along planes projected from said bins, means rotatably supporting said rollers, means defining a plurality of bins arranged in a row on the sides of said rollers opposite to the sides thereof which define said unobstructed trackway, each bin being capable of supporting a stack of sheet material therein and being aligned with respective ones of said rollers at a location to permit ejection of a sheet from the stack in each of the respective bins over a respective roller, and means for ejecting a sheet from each of said bins so that a substantial upper portion of each sheet extends above said trackway to a location overlying a respective roller on the unobstructed side of said trackway in which location the ejected sheets remain substantially stationary until manually removed from said bins.

6. A collator comprising a housing, a plurality of angle members arranged in a row on said housing and defining therebetween individual bins, each of said angle members including an oblique surface for supporting the bottom of a stack of sheet material and a bottom surface for supporting the bottom edge of the stack, means rotatably supporting a roller in substantial alignment with the respective oblique surfaces of each of said angle members, said rollers being aligned substantially in a common plane to define a trackway which is unobstructed to the projection of substantial upper portions of sheets from said bins above the upper peripheries of said rollers extending along planes projected from said bins, whereby any sheets projected from said bins remain substantially stationary until manually removed from said bins, and ejector means for ejecting a sheet of material from each bin so that a substantial upper portion of each sheet extends upwardly through the plane of said trackway to overlie the roller aligned with said oblique surface of the respective bin, said oblique surfaces being oriented so that the uppermost edges of the sheets which are ejected all extend in the same direction.

7. A collator comprising a housing, a plurality of angle members arranged in a row on said housing and defining therebetween individual bins, said angle members including an oblique surface for supporting the bottom of a stack of sheet material and a bottom surface for supporting the bottom edge of the stack, means rotatably supporting a roller in substantial alignment with each of the oblique surfaces of said angle members, said means for supporting said rollers comprising a member extending substantially parallel to the oblique surface and forming an extension thereof, said member being adjustable in respect to the oblique surface outwardly and inwardly for varying the length of the associated bin and the position of the associated roller, all of said rollers being aligned in substantially a common plane to define a trackway unobstructed to the projection of substantial upper portions of sheets from said bins above the upper peripheries of said rollers extending along planes projected from said bins, and ejector means for ejecting a sheet of material from each bin so that a substantial upper portion of each sheet extends above the upper periphery of its associated roller, and for directing the ejected sheet over the roller aligned with the oblique surface of the respective bin, said oblique surfaces of said bins being oriented so that the uppermost edges of the sheets which are ejected extend in the same direction.

8. A collator comprising a housing, a plurality of angle members arranged in a row on said housing and defining therebetween individual bins, said angle members including an oblique surface for supporting the bottom of a stack of sheet material, means rotatably supposting a roller in substantial alignment with each of the oblique surfaces of said angle member, all of said rollers being aligned in substantially a common plane and defining a traclcway unobstructed to the projection of substantial upper portions of sheets from said bins above the upper peripheries of said rollers extending along planes projected from said bins, and ejector means for ejecting a sheet of material from each bin and for direct ing a substantial upper portion of the ejected sheet above said trackway and above the upper periphery of the roller aligned with the oblique surface of the respective bin, the oblique surfaces of the bins being oriented so that the uppermost edges of the sheets which are ejected extend in the same direction, said ejector means comprising a plate member disposed below said bins, and a rod member for each bin each pivotally connected to said plate member and extending upwardly into an associated one of said bins, a set of parallel arms for supporting said plate member for parallel movement upwardly and downwardly, spring means biasing said plate member into an upward position to bring the said rod members associated therewith to their uppermost positions within the bins, and operating means connected to said plate memher to move it downwardly to bring said rods to a lowermost position within said bins and cause them to engage the lower portion or" the uppermost sheet of a stack of sheet material and thereafter to move said plate upwardly to cause said rod members to eject the uppermost sheet of the sheet material from the bins during such movement.

9. A collator comprising a housing, a plurality of members arranged in a row on said housing and defining therebetwcen individual bins with an oblique surface for supporting a stack of sheet material, means rotatably supporting a roller in substantial alignment with each of said oblique surfaces, all of said rollers defining a trackway unobstructed to the projection of substantial upper portions of sheets from said bins above the upper peripheries of said rollers extending along planes projected from said bins, whereby any sheets projected from said bins upwardly beyond said rollers remain substantially stationary until manually removed from said bins, ejector means for ejecting a sheet of material from each bin so that a substantial upper portion of each sheet extends above its associated roller and for directing the ejected sheet through said trackway, said oblique surfaces of said bins being oriented so that the uppermost edges of the sheets which are ejected extend in the same direction for movement along said trackway, a guide member carried adjacent each of said rollers and extending outwardly therefrom, said guide members being deflectable downwardly to span the space between adjacent ones of said bins by the ejected sheets as they are advanced over said trackway.

16. A method of collating sheets from a plurality of stacks of said sheets, with the stacks arranged at spaced locations adjacent a roller trackway, comprising moving a sheet from each stack to project a substantial upper portion of each sheet above the upper peripheries of the rollers so as to extend along planes projected from said stacks, and positioning all of the projected sheets with the projected ends standing in a row above the trackway in .a visible View for selection, removing any unwanted upwardly projecting sheets, and collecting from only two to any selected number of consecutive sheets up to the total number of sheets projected by pressing first the upper end of the endmost sheet in a row downwardly on the .trackway while moving it over its roller and along the trackway toward the other sheets, continuing to move the endmost sheet until it frictionally engages the next sheet and drags it over its roller and out of its stack and along the trackway, and continuing to advance each sheet successively until each sheet in succession is frictionally engaged and moved out of its associated stack and along said trackway.

11. A method of collating sheets from a plurality of stacks of said sheets, with the stacks arranged at spaced locations below a trackway defined by transverse antifriction supports, comprising moving a sheet from each stack to project a substantial upper portion of each sheet above the upper surfaces of said anti-friction supports so as to extend along planes projected from said stacks and positioning all of the projected sheets with the projected ends standing in a row above the trackway in a visible view for selection, and collecting from only two to any selected number of consecutive sheets up to the total number of sheets projected by pressing first the upper end of endmost sheet in a row downwardly on the trackway while moving it over the respective support and along the trackway toward the other sheets, continuing to move the endmost sheet until if frictionally engages the next sheet and drags it over the respective support and out of its stack and along the trackway, and continuing to advance each sheet successively until each sheet in suc cession is frictionally engaged and moved out of its associated stack and along said trackway.

References Cited by the Examiner FQREIGN PATENTS 4/59 Belgium. 4/58 Great Britain. 

1. IN A SHEET COLLATOR, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING MEANS INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF SPACED, SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL INCLINED WELLS DEFINING A SUCCESSION OF BINS EACH BIN BEING LOCATED BETWEEN ADJACENT ONES OF SAID WALLS FOR SUPPORTING A STACK OF SHEET MATERIAL ON EACH OF SAID INCLINED WALLS, SAID WALLS HAVING UPPER ENDS TERMINATING IN SUBSTANTIALLY A COMMON PLANE AND DEFINING OPENINGS FOR EACH OF SAID BINS, ANTI-FRICTION MEANS MOUNTED ADJACENT SAID BIN OPENINGS SPACED BEYOND THE EDGES OF STACKS OF SHEET MATERIAL SUPPORTED IN THE RESPECTIVE BINS AND DEFINING A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL SHEET GATHERING TRACKWAY, SAID ANTI-FRICTION MEANS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID TRACKWAY AND SAID TRACKWAY BEING UNOBSTRUCTED OF THE PROJECTION OF SUBSTANTIALLY UPPER PORTIONS OF SHEETS FROM SAID BINS ABOVE THE UPPER SURFACES OF SAID ANTI-FRICTION MEANS EXTENDING ALONG PLANES PROJECTED FROM SAID BINS WHEREBY ANY SHEETS PROJECTED FROM SAID BINS BEYOND SAID TRACKWAY REMAIN SUBSTANTIALLY STATIONARY UNTIL MANUALLY REMOVED FROM SAID BINS, AND EJECTOR MEANS IN SAID BINS FOR PROJECTING A SHEET FROM EACH OF SAID BINS SO THAT A SUBSTANTIAL UPPER PORTION OF EACH SHEET EXTENDS ABOVE ITS ASSOCIATED ANTI-FRICTION MEANS WHEREBY TO CAUSE EACH SHEET, AS ITS IS PROJECTED, TO BE POSITIONED FOR MOVEMENT OUT OF ITS BIN OVER SAID ANTI-FRICTION MEANS AND INTO FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH THE FOLLOWING SHEET IN SUCCESSION. 